


it's been a while, but you're on your way, no?

by kittymannequin



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Femslash February, It's about the italicized oh my gays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:15:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29317728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittymannequin/pseuds/kittymannequin
Summary: it's femslash february and i wanted to write sth soft so here's this tender lil' soulmate au where they have words written on their wrists and it's the lyrics of the song that'll be playing when they first see their soulmate
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 122





	it's been a while, but you're on your way, no?

The moment she was old enough to understand what the words on her wrist meant, Catra made it her mission to find out as much as she could about them. She’d heard the older kids at the orphanage talk about music with a type of reverence she couldn’t understand, but it all kind of fell into place when she snuck into the common room one night past curfew and listened in on a conversation two older girls were having.

 _Words from a song that’ll be playing when you meet your soulmate for the first time,_ was what they said.

Catra remembers the way her heart clenched in her chest that night, how heavy it felt, beating fast and hurried. She’d run a finger over the words on her wrist, thought about them for hours and hours.

“ _No grave can hold my body down_

 _I'll crawl home to her_ _”_

She was careful, fearful almost, and even then, a small, scrawny little eight year old, Catra knew those few words would be a lifeline one day.

By the time she left the orphanage twelve years later, just having turned eighteen, practically thrown out by _Shadow Weaver -_ as the kids called her in disgust, - Catra had all but forgotten about the words on her wrist, even if that tiny little part of her, somewhere deep inside, held onto them, onto hope. 

She’d been told so many times that she should just forget them, forget about what they mean, forget they even exist because people like her, sad little kids who nobody wants, don’t deserve good things like soulmates. Or love, for that matter. She’d heard those words so many times that by the time she stepped out of the godawful building with nothing more than a backpack with a spare change of clothes and some cash in her pocket, Catra fully believed she didn’t deserve anything good. 

And she didn’t think the world had anything good to offer. 

So she locked the words deep in her heart, pulled her sleeve further down and vowed to never think about them.

* * *

Adora never really thought too much about the words written on her wrist. They were something that was there from the moment she can remember actually noticing them for the first time, maybe a handful of times she’d acknowledged them since and that one evening when Mara sat her down and explained what they actually meant.

“ _They’re words of a song that will be playing when you first meet your soulmate, Adora. It might sting a little, some say it burns, but you’ll know when it happens,”_ Mara had said, soft yet firm, much like she always was with everything, and Adora never really thought about it more than she did that night. 

She didn’t think she’d have a soulmate, not when she had to focus so hard on achieving her goals, not when med school was taking up all of her time and she just wanted to finally, _finally_ be able to save lives and help people. She couldn’t afford to think about something as silly as longing for someone she didn’t even know, couldn’t allow herself to indulge in fantasies about someone who’d be her second half, as most called it. There were more important things to do and after all, she’d been given a chance to make something of herself, to be someone, someone worthy and good and meaningful and Adora would be damned if she didn’t do her best to achieve it.

It wasn’t until her third year of residency that a few fellow residents managed to drag her out, ever reluctant, for a night of “winding down” after one of their two-day shifts and Adora found herself sitting at the bar, dragging a finger over the words etched into her skin.

“ _Please say honestly_

_You won’t give up on me,_

_And I shall believe”_

She knew the song well, listened to it often, loved it from the moment she first played it on YouTube and grinned to herself years ago. She was a teenager, back then, still full of hopes and dreams that felt as if they could come true any day, but the years ahead hardened her heart and trained her brain not to go there, not to think about those words, forced her to look away each time she allowed herself to glance down and Adora learned to live without the comfort of knowing that there was still someone out there whose wrist probably itched just as bad as hers did on long, lonely nights.

Thinking about it was hard, and she didn’t get much more chance to, her coworkers dragged her to the dance floor and she was grateful that the words on her wrist belonged to a song she could be sure she’d never hear in a club, probably never in a bar either. She found comfort in that certainty and let loose, dancing to some silly pop jam playing on the shabby jukebox in the corner.

* * *

Catra was grumpy, tired, hungry and grouchy and definitely not in the mood for some casual, “couple of friends only” party at some random people’s apartment. But Scorpia had insisted, all but dragged her along and Catra’s always had a soft spot for the gentle giantess so she - very grumpily - agreed to come along, if nothing else to keep an eye on her and help her not make a fool out of herself in front of her newfound soulmate, Perfuma. 

There were already some people there when they arrived and Scorpia wasn’t wrong, it wasn’t too many of them, but Catra still felt a little out of place, especially since all of them seemed to either be couples, or well on their way to that.

Scorpia and Perfuma made the necessary introductions and Catra soon found herself nodding slightly to a guy named Bow and a girl she assumed was his girlfriend, Glimmer, whose apartment they were actually in. On the couch there was another couple, Mermista and a guy everyone affectionately called Sea Hawk, even though Catra couldn’t really figure out why.

The apartment wasn’t luxurious by any means, but it wasn’t cheap looking either. It had a gorgeous large balcony connected to the open concept kitchen and living room, with several closed doors Catra noticed in a hallway that lead to the rest of the apartment. Glimmer, one of the owners of the apartment, told them that they’d keep the music somewhat lower because their roommate was in her room studying, she’d join them later on, and Catra took note of that somewhere in the back of her head before heading over to the balcony. 

She made her way over and pulled out her phone, checking her work email before she shoved the phone back in her pocket and sighed, taking in the brisk evening air and humming along the slightly muffled music coming from inside. It wasn’t loud inside, wasn’t even too crowded for her tastes, but she felt like a third wheel to each and every person there, plus she didn’t really know anyone besides Scorpia and Perfuma and she had a feeling she’d be slipping out in a couple of hours at most.

But she was thankful, for night like these, where she could look back on everything she’d achieved and give herself the acknowledgement she deserved, after being through so much and getting where she was. She deserved it, even if it wasn’t everything she wanted, and that one part was still missing. 

But she’d kept her vow, and she hadn’t thought about it and tonight wasn’t the night for it either.

She found herself back inside soon enough and both Sea Hawk and Bow decided to join her on the couch and engage in conversation. It wasn’t anything in particular, just small talk between strangers, but it was easy to hold a conversation with them, even if Sea Hawk was a fair bit more odd than what Catra liked to manage and Bow seemed a very excitable man. Nonetheless, Catra actually found herself feeling content in their presence and it lulled her into wanting to stay a little bit longer, if nothing else to be a good friend to Scorpia who was nothing less than a saint for sticking around even if Catra hadn’t always been nice to her.

It was maybe an hour or so later that she shuffled over to Scorpia and poked her arm softly, wondering where the bathroom was. She slipped away towards the hallway and headed for the second door on the left, as per Scorpia’s instructions, but stopped in her tracks when a familiar song started playing. 

She’d heard it far too many times, never really gave it too much importance because life had taught her not to, but it was hard to ignore when the words from it were a constant reminder on her wrist. A reminder of something she’d never have. Catra shook her head slightly and tugged the sleeve of her shirt lower to cover the words before heading over to the bathroom, Hozier still playing softly in the background.

There was no indicator that anyone was inside the bathroom, save for a very soft light peeking through the small space below the door, so Catra knocked once, twice, three times before pressing her hand to the handle. If anyone had been in there, they would have heard the knocking because the music really wasn’t loud enough to cover it up and, since there was no reply, Catra figured someone must have either left the light on or it was just some permanent, smaller light that was always on. 

She pressed down on the handle and pushed open the door, only to stop dead in her tracks, three thoughts immediately forming in her head.

One, this was definitely not the bathroom and Scorpia was either a little drunk or totally did not understand her but either way, Catra was gonna deal with that later.

Two, the sight before her was the most beautiful one she’d ever seen in her life and looking away felt almost like a sin. The room was dark, save for the warm yellow light streaming in through the half-closed drapes from the lamp post outside, and the small lamp that sat at the corner of a large work desk set against the wall. There was a bed on the opposite side, probably a couple drawers, maybe a closet, Catra couldn’t see, but what mesmerized her most, or rather who, was the figure of a woman with her arms spread before her on the desk, head pressed down into a book and a mess of blonde hair falling just about everywhere. She must have dozed off studying, the desk was littered with books, notes and an odd pen here and there, but the woman had a pleasant, comfortable smile across her face, eyes firmly shut and, despite her awkward sleeping position, looked to be completely at ease and relaxed.

At first, Catra simply stood there for maybe ten, twenty seconds, thinking it had been an eternity - because it would have been so simple to stare at this sight for eons - and she wondered if she’d maybe died on her way to the bathroom and this was by some miracle an angel, all sleepy and soft and so warm looking, waiting to fly her up to the heavens. But then her last functioning brain cell finally decided to chime in with urgent information and Catra let that third, most prominent thought, finally take over.

Her wrist was burning, not like she’d put it in fire or accidentally burnt herself or anything meaningless like that. No, the words on her wrist, the lyrics of that fateful song she’d spent her whole life ignoring, were burning with a deep thrum to them, and she wondered if the drumming of her heart had, somehow, fully transferred from her chest to her wrist. The words on her wrist were burning and back in the living room Hozier was still singing and this woman sleeping so peacefully at her desk, this woman that Catra wanted to forever memorize and maybe paint and frame and stare at every day - this woman was her soulmate.

_“Oh."_

* * *

There were a few things Adora noticed before she even opened her eyes.

Firstly, she was painfully aware of the awkward position she’d managed to doze off in again, for god knows what time this month. It was always routine, by now, pouring over books and going over her notes, studying, reading, studying, reading, until she was too tired to drag herself to bed and she’d just get up and do the same thing over again so why even bother going to bed? It was uncomfortable, yes, but her brain needed the rest and if she was tired she was tired and the desk would do.

The second thing that she realized almost immediately after regaining her consciousness, even in the wake of her impromptu sleeping session and the drowsiness her mind was still in, her favorite song was playing in her earphones, soft and slightly muffled in one ear because she was still lying on that side of her head, but the words were unmistakable and she’d know them anywhere, at any time. They were on her wrist, anyway.

When she finally blinked her eyes open, once, twice before focusing on the warm light seeping in from the hallway and the figure standing in the doorway. She couldn’t make out who it was, and she knew Glimmer was having a small get-together with some friends, she’d even promised to join them later, but they had an understanding that her room was always off limits and whoever it was, did not really look like Glimmer, even if Adora was still waking up and had yet to see them properly.

She slowly pushed herself up and swiped away the errant strands of hair stuck to her forehead and falling messily across her face, rubbed at her eyes with one hand and finally focused on the person at the door.

“Can I hel-”

She didn’t get to finish her sentence.

She’d finally rubbed away the sleep in her eyes and focused on the figure at the door, realized it was a woman that definitely wasn’t Glimmer, and her wrist sparked with a burning, searing sensation that she’d never felt before. It was momentary, no longer than a second or two, before it immediately changed into a soft, yet still present shallow burn somewhere just beneath her skin, right where the words currently playing in her earphones were written. She stared, wide-eyed and confused, as realization dawned upon her and the dots in her head all began connecting with one another. 

This woman standing there, hair wild and untamed and her figure bathed in the soft glow of the warm hallway light, eyes wide and gorgeous and oh so shocked - this woman was Adora’s soulmate.

“ _Oh.”_

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on twitter/tumblr @ kittymannequin


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